After 9 hours of jury deliberation, Jussie Smollett was convicted Thursday of staging a hate crime almost three years after he orchestrated a hate crime hoax, in which he claimed that two Trump-loving bigots in downtown Chicago beat him up, tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him.
Smollett was found guilty on five out of six counts of disorderly conduct and has not yet been sentenced.
5 out of 6
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) December 9, 2021
According to Fox News reporter Matt Finn, “Smollett was found not guilty about lying about aggravated battery. That charge was because his attackers were wearing masks.”
Smollett was found not guilty about lying about aggravated battery. That charge was because his attackers were wearing masks.
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) December 9, 2021
According to NBC Chicago, Smollett faced a total of “six counts of disorderly conduct under a subsection of the law that prohibits false reports to police.” The charges are class 4 felonies, “which are among the least serious felonies in Illinois… convictions can still carry potential prison time of up to three years.”
“Count 1 accuses him of telling responding Chicago Police Officer Muhammed Baig at around 2:45 a.m., some 45 minutes after the purported attack, that he was the victim of a hate crime. He said two attackers put a rope around his neck,” NBC Chicago explained. “Count 2 refers to Smollett telling the same officer he was a victim of a battery, describing attackers beating and pouring bleach on him.”
“Counts 3 and 4 are when Smollett made the same claims but to a different officer, Kimberly Murray, later that morning, at just before 6 a.m,” NBC Chicago added. “Count 5 accuses Smollett of again telling Murray at around 7:15 p.m. that he was the victim of a battery. Count 6 refers to Smollett reporting on Feb. 14, 2019, to detective Robert Graves that he’d been a victim of an aggravated battery.”
